Using published and unpublished sources, hundreds of basic datasets – many of them global in scope – were painstakingly edited down to an agreed upon area of interest for the African continent, converted to special Geographic Information System (GIS) formats, documented, and then posted on the AMA website (above).  AMA takes the form of an online library of GIS-compatible data, in the following areas:

The Atlas is composed of  2 types of layers: base maps and  data layers.

DATA CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE OMAP SITE: http://omap.africanmarineatlas.net  

1- BASE MAPS

The Atlas is built around a comprehensive set of fundamental “base maps” and geographically registered “base images” that can be used with datasets as overlays.  These data include several different coastlines (of varying resolutions), as illustrated by the two examples of the Capetown area, below.  The example on the left is the lowest resolution dataset (for easy, quick plotting), while the example on the right is from the highest resolution dataset.

Other data in the Base Maps group include all the depth contour lines from the GEBCO Atlas, a very good gridded bathymetry/topography dataset (shown by the example figure of the Namibian coastline on the right), a gazetteer of ocean place names, and an extremely high-resolution “land mask” for use with satellite images.

2- DATA LAYERS

 The data layers in the African Marine Atlas are subdivided by theme (of which there are 5) as described above.

GEOSPHERE.  The geological area is represented in the Atlas by data covering geohazards (especially including tsunamis, as shown by the figure below left here of tsunami runup sites), minerals and core sampling sites (which can be linked back to the original data), sediment thickness (a primary parameter in Law of the Sea considerations), land cover and soils.

As mentioned, there are important legal implications to sediment depths, making these data of high interest.  Shown here in light brown, the areas of deepest sediments tend to mirror areas of high productivity (picture above, right).

HYDROSPHERE.  Ocean and fresh waters are represented in the Atlas by numerous themes.  In the areas of Physical Oceanography, temperature, salinity, sea surface temperature, average currents and sea level records are covered.  For Chemical Oceanography, the basic nutrients fields are provided.  In Optics (an area not often well populated with data) the incoming light and the light field characteristics for photosynthesis are provided by climatological fields.  At present only gridded runoff data are provided for Limnology.  Uniquely, the Atlas includes the possibility to compare exactly equivalent analysis from different sources of the average currents around the continent, as shown by the following three figures.  Each of these is meant to portray January surface current vectors at the same scale.  The apparent differences, even at this small scale, will be the subject of much debate and discussion, one of the aims of the Atlas.

ATMOSPHERE.  Weather and climate are well represented in the Atlas.  The fundamental theme areas are temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation and cloudiness.  Winds, storm tracks and storm zones are under construction. 

BIOSPHERE.  The plants and animals of the African continent represented a huge challenge to the AMA team, because many of the distribution patterns of important species had never been mapped and/or the existing data had not been synthesized for mapping.  Using an extensive network of contacts they developed, the Biosphere Team developed data in the following areas:  Phytoplankton, Chlorophyll, Zooplankton, Algae & Kelp, Mangroves, Vegetation (land), Fishing Areas, Total Catch/Aquaculture, Species Catch & Distributions (selected countries), Corals, Fishes, Invertebrates, Protected Areas, Exotics & Invasives and IUCN Red List Species.  In addition, although downloadable files are not provided, there are links to other data sites covering Mammals, Reptiles and Birds.  This critical area of the Atlas benefited greatly from the participation of the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP). The figure below, on the left, is the critically endangered Giant Grouper, from the IUCN Red List, an example of the figures provided in the Atlas, along with GIS maps of distribution.  The figure below on the right shows the annual average concentration of chlorophyll in the surface waters, with highest values shown in reddish-brown.  The areas of upwelling are clearly indicated

HUMAN ENVIRONMENT.  The most complex area to cover in this ambitious project was the area of social, economic and environmental impacts from man’s activities.  In this area, AMA was greatly assisted by the involvement of the United Nations Environment Program, in particular the UNEP’s ambitious national-level GIS projects along the African coast.  Themes in this area proved to be among the most difficult targets, due to their possible commercial uses, which tend to lock them into copyright situations.  The Atlas currently contains data in the areas of Country & Internal Boundaries, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Boundaries, Maritime Features (see Ports figure, below), Population, Industrial & Commercial (entities with possible impacts on the coastal zone), Transportation (multiple modes), Energy Transmission and Coastal Hospitality/Tourism.